Robard and Maryam had adjusted their positions, so I stood on their thighs while they balanced me as best they could with chained hands.
“Quit goofing around, squire,” Robard groused. “You’re heavy!”
If I could loosen one more bar, we might have enough space to wiggle our way to freedom. With large sections of mortar missing from the first bar, I could get better leverage with my knife. I worked the bottom free and pulled until it broke loose in my hand. I wanted to shout but was leery of alerting anyone. Grasping the remaining two bars, I pulled myself up and wiggled through the window. Angel was so happy she nearly attacked me.
“Easy, girl,” I said. On my hands and knees, I poked my head back through the bars, reaching down for Maryam. She took my hand and had just enough give in her shackles to place her foot up on the wall, grasp the bar and lift herself up. She squirmed her way through and lay there on the ground while Angel welcomed her in her own particular fashion.
“Robard, you’re next,” I said as I reached down for him. He took my arm in both hands and dug his boots into the stone wall. It was damp and smooth, and with his feet chained, hard for him to get a toehold.
“Push!” I groaned as he inched his way up the wall.
“Don’t yell at me to push, Templar! You’re the one who got us into this! It’s not easy trying to climb when your feet are chained together!” Robard was still in a temper and I couldn’t blame him. I had gotten us into this mess. But I was doing my best to get us out. Robard kicked and groaned and strained, but finally wormed his way through.
If Angel had been happy to see Maryam and me, she was overjoyed to see Robard. She jumped on his chest and he sat up, scooping her up in his arms and hugging her to his chest. “I missed you too, girl,” he said, chuckling.
We had no time to lose. We were now in the bailey of the castle, hidden in the shadows of the wall. Robard and Maryam could stand and walk in a shuffling step by holding on to the chain connecting their hands and feet.
“What’s our next step?” Maryam asked.
“Escaping? I vote for escaping,” said Robard.
“Yes, but first things first: we have to get those shackles off. I need to check on something though,” I said, spotting the wagon that had carried us here parked nearby.
The bailey, essentially a large courtyard in this castle, was cluttered with other wagons and stacks of barrels and equipment, and in the lengthening shadows, I covertly made my way to the wagon and peeked over the side. Our weapons were gone, as was my satchel. My heart sank. Sir Hugh had likely discovered the Grail by now. He was probably dancing with glee.
My feet felt leaden as I made my way back to the wall.
“Nothing?” Robard said.
“No, everything’s gone,” I said.
“Sir Hugh must have them. I say we find weapons and take our possessions back,” Robard said.
“Robard, we can’t attack a castle full of King’s Guards. They are sworn to defend the Queen Mother to the death. We need to get out of here first. Sir Hugh will leave at some point and we can follow him,” I reasoned.
“Given our history together, I almost hate to ask, but do you have any idea of how to get these chains off of us?” Maryam said.
“Yes. With this many horses they have to have a blacksmith. Let’s find the forge. With a hammer and chisel we can get them off easily. Come on,” I said.
We kept to the wall and made our way along it until we had circled the courtyard. Everything appeared deserted. Angel sniffed the air. “Is anyone there, girl?” I asked as if she could understand me.
Silently she crept ahead of us, her nose constantly working the air. Then she darted into the stables and vanished from sight. We looked at each other, unsure what to do. Seconds later she was back. With a quiet bark she ran toward the door, stopped, and looked at us again, as if imploring us to follow. We hurried over to the door and slipped through to find it empty.
The interior was lit by oil lamps, and it was far bigger even than the one in Acre. At least a dozen stalls were on each side, almost all of them filled with horses. As I had hoped, at the rear wall sat an anvil next to a forge and bench with blacksmith tools. In a few moments I had freed them both.
“I say we each take a horse and ride out of here,” Robard said.
I shook my head. “I’m fairly certain the Queen Mother doesn’t know what Sir Hugh is up to concerning the Grail. There is something else at work here. I need to know what it is.”
Just then we were interrupted by a series of shouts from the courtyard outside. Maryam ran to the door and peeked out. “I think they’ve discovered our escape,” she said. We could hear the sounds of running feet and orders being shouted to the guards and men-at-arms.
“Too bad we don’t have our weapons. With my bow, I’m sure we could make it to the gate at least,” Robard said.
Robard’s idea of taking the horses sounded more appealing. As I tried to decide our next move, Angel rose up on her back feet and pawed at my hip, whining and growling at me. I pushed her away. “Not now, girl,” I told her. She left my side and moved over to the first stall inside the stable door, which was piled high with hay. She pounced on the pile and dug at it furiously, and soon bits of straw were flying all about.
“What is she doing?” Maryam asked.
Angel yanked at something buried under the straw. She growled and finally pulled something free. I recognized it instantly. It was my satchel. Robard ran to the stall and kicked aside a large pile of hay.
There on the floor lay our weapons.
30
We looked in wonder at what Angel had done. She sat on her haunches, watching us expectantly. She had managed to follow us all the way to Calais and sneak her way into the castle. Robard’s bow and wallet, Maryam’s daggers and my satchel and short sword were all there. The only thing missing was Sir Thomas’ battle sword, which I could only assume was too heavy for her to move.
Taking her in my arms, I nuzzled her cheek while she licked my face. At that moment I truly missed the brothers of St. Alban’s, for I would have loved to tell them about my guardian angel who took the shape of a small golden dog. I wished then I had a spit full of meat for her to eat.
“If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it,” Robard said as he shrugged into his wallet and strung his bow.
Maryam reached down to pick up her daggers and wiped the handles on her tunic. “Indeed,” she said, smiling. “Allah shines his grace on our little friend.” I put Angel back on the ground and reached inside the satchel, nearly fainting with relief to find the Grail still in place.
“We need to get out of here,” Robard said, his voice full of tension. We peered out of the stable door, viewing the activity in the courtyard. Across the way, near the entrance to the keep, two squads of King’s Guards were forming up, torches were being lit all around the compound, and soon they’d search the grounds inch by inch. All of them were heavily armed, and I could see Sir Hugh in the shadows in an animated discussion with the Captain, waving his arms about, no doubt promising horrors beyond imagination if we were not found.
Robard led us quietly out of the stable, and keeping to the castle wall, the four of us trotted silently along it, making our way toward the main gate. When we were close enough to see it, we learned to our distress that it was still closed and guarded by four men.
“Of all the rotten luck!” Robard muttered. “There better be another way out. I couldn’t shoot them all before one of them sounded the alarm.”
We had to move quickly or we would be trapped. Sir Hugh was banking on the fact that we were still inside the castle, and we wouldn’t be able to dodge them forever.
In the corner of the castle wall, between the stables and the gate, was a stone stairway leading to the battlements above. “If we can make it up there without being seen, we might be able to scale down the wall,” I said.
“Are you crazy?” Robard snorted. “It’s a good twenty feet to the
ground. If we fall, we’ll be lucky not to bust both legs. And what about her?” he said, gesturing to Angel.
It was immediately clear I hadn’t thought this all the way through.
“Wait! In the stables, there was a long coil of rope. We can use it to climb down! I’ll be right back,” Maryam said. She sprinted back along the wall in the direction we had come.
“Maryam! No!” Robard whispered. He went after her, but I put my arm out to stop him.
“Hold,” I said. “Let’s wait until we see what happens. Maryam is stealthy. She might be able. .” I let my words trail off. I could feel the tension in Robard’s arm and realized then how much he’d come to care for her. I knew how Maryam felt about him. It was evident every time she looked at him. But I’d not realized it about Robard until now.
In silence, we watched as she slid quickly along in the shadows of the wall and in seconds had slipped through the door of the stables. With rising panic, we watched four of the King’s Guards crossing the courtyard toward the stables. Robard started after her again, and it took all my strength to pull him back into the shadows.
“Robard, stop!” I whispered. “Wait to see what happens first. It does no good for all of us to be recaptured.” They were certain to find her, and knowing Maryam, she would most likely fight to the death.
Our worst fears were confirmed when a loud commotion rose inside the stable. We heard shouts, and then came a ululating scream and the clang of steel. Robard pulled an arrow from his wallet and nocked it. The doors to the stable burst open, and three of the guards came out carrying a twisting and thrashing Maryam. The fourth guard never appeared.
Robard raised his bow and took aim, but I pushed his arm aside. He whirled on me, and for a moment I thought he might shoot me instead. He was coiled and angry, and I held up my hands.
“Robard, wait. Don’t shoot. You might hit her. We’ll get her back, I promise. But we have to have a plan.”
“I hit what I aim for, Templar!” he snarled, but he released the tension in his bow. Maryam was half dragged, half carried to the center of the bailey where the Captain waited with Sir Hugh. When the guards reached them, they put Maryam on her feet. We were too far away to hear what was said, but without warning Sir Hugh backhanded Maryam across the face and she slumped in the arms of the guards.
Robard cursed and raised his bow again, but realized his folly and lowered it. Angel growled and slunk away in the shadows.
“Think of something, Tristan! Quickly! They’ll kill her,” he said. My thoughts were frozen in my head, and I was scared and didn’t know what to do next.
Maryam still stood slumped in the arms of the two guards, her head bobbing on her chest. The Captain shouted orders, and a wagon with a wooden windlass on its back rolled forward. It was probably used for loading and unloading supplies. One guard threw a rope over the crossbeam, and two others rolled a barrel beneath it. A noose was fastened from the end of the rope, and the two guards raised Maryam up on the barrel and placed the noose around her neck.
Sir Hugh cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, “Squire! Now is the time to surrender!”
They were going to hang Maryam.
31
Maryam came awake with a jolt and looked about frantically, then settled herself. She shouted at Sir Hugh, but the guards rocked the barrel back and forth and she nearly fell off it. If she did, it would instantly break her neck. She struggled to regain her balance. Then the barrel righted and she stood still on top of it. Robard cursed them for tormenting her. “They’re all dead,” he muttered under his breath.
“Do you hear me, squire?” Sir Hugh shouted. “Come forward now or your friend dies!”
Sweat poured down my face as I leaned back against the cool stone wall.
“You need to give it to him,” Robard said.
“Yes, I know, Robard. But if I give it to him now, he’ll kill her anyway. We need leverage. Something we can trade.”
“What? We have nothing. Do you understand? Maryam is going to die,” he pleaded. It was unsettling to hear Robard talk like this. He was begging me for her life.
Then an idea came to me.
“Robard? Can you shoot the rope?”
“What? Shoot the rope? Of course not! I mean, I’m sure I could if I could get closer, but why?”
“You have to be sure. Can you shoot it? If you were to work your way up behind the wagon over there, you’d be less than thirty yards away. Could you make the shot from such a distance?”
“That’s it? That’s your plan? For me to get closer and shoot the rope? They’ll just kill her with a sword anyway.”
“Yes. No. I mean, it’s only part of the plan. Can you do it?” Robard removed his wallet and ran his hand through the feathers of his arrows. He removed one a bit longer than the others, with a broader arrowhead. He held it up, sighting along it as if inspecting it for defects. He nocked it in his bow and said, “Yes, I can make the shot. You’ll have to give me three or four seconds to stand, draw and sight. But I’ll do it.”
“Good. Then wait for my signal,” I said. Most of the guards had clustered in the courtyard, delaying their search of the grounds to see what happened next.
“All right. When I leave, you make your way to the wagon. Make sure none of the guards up on the battlements can see you clearly. They may have archers up there.”
“Leave? What do you mean, leave?” he asked.
“I’m going to get us something to trade,” I said.
The castle had enclosed towers on each corner, but to my advantage, the guardhouses were built so the guards could see out, not into the interior. I would be out of their sight lines if I was careful. Leaving Robard still sputtering behind the barrels, I sprinted for the corner stairway. Within seconds I was above the courtyard.
“Squire! I’m telling you, your friend will hang at my command unless you surrender this instant!” Sir Hugh bellowed from down below. He was bluffing. He wouldn’t hang Maryam until he knew for sure we were still in the castle. If he did let her die before he got his hands on the Grail, he undoubtedly knew Robard would shoot him at the first opportunity. Sir Hugh was nothing if not a coward. Still I had no time to waste.
As I moved across the rampart, I stayed close to the crenature, which provided me with cover. My brown tunic blended well with the castle stone. I wondered about Robard’s progress below, but there was no time to check. In a few seconds, I reached the shadows of the far corner. To my right now was a door into the second level of the keep. I hoped it wasn’t locked and made fast toward it, pulling up at the door, pushing against it with my hip.
“Squire, I grow weary of this!” I heard Sir Hugh call out from down below. “I give you to the count of one hundred to show yourself or she hangs!” Luckily the door made no sound. If I was right and Sir Hugh had ordered every available guard outside to search, my plan was going to work. I needed his cooperation, and counted on his greed to possess the Grail.
Once inside there was another stone stairway leading to the upper levels. I gambled the Queen Mother’s quarters would be on the top floor. She would demand the most commanding view in the castle. I raced up the two levels of stone steps and stopped, peeking out into the corridor of the top floor. My luck was holding, for a single guard was standing outside a door in the middle of the hallway. I pulled my sword out but carried it down along my leg, where it was concealed in the folds of my tunic. Then I burst into the hallway, running full tilt toward him.
“Guard! The Captain demands you go at once to the bailey! The criminals have been located!” He faced me, momentarily confused. His hand went to the sword at his belt. “Halt-” he started to say, but now I was upon him and swung the hilt of my sword up, driving it into his chin. With my momentum, the blow lifted him off his feet, and his eyes rolled inward as he landed hard on the ground.
I pushed at the door with all my weight and it swung open, revealing the Queen Mother’s chambers. The room was brightly lit by oil lamps, and behind a b
eautiful oak table she sat. She must have heard the commotion in the hallway, but her face was serene. Behind her stood two of her ladies-in-waiting, and their hands flew to their mouths at the sight of the ruffian who had barged into their ladies’ chamber.
When the Queen Mother recognized me, her eyes went dark. Though she tried to hide it, the color drained from her face and she bolted to her feet.
“What is the meaning of this?” she demanded.
Rushing up to the table, I pointed my sword directly at her.
“Your highness, your presence is required in the bailey at once,” I told her.
“I’m not going anywhere with you, boy!” she spat.
“My lady, they are about to hang my friend and I have no time to stand on formality. Now, it’s your choice: come with me willingly or so help me God, I will drag you down there.”
“I’ll see you hang for this!” she shouted.
“I’ll hang anyway! Now move!” As I feinted a thrust across the table with my sword, the Queen Mother stumbled backward with a squawk. Only the quick action of one of her attendants kept her from falling to the ground. Grabbing her arm, I pushed her toward the door.
“Let go of me! How dare you lay your filthy hands on me!” she shouted, clawing at my hand.
Before leaving, I warned the ladies-in-waiting, “Stay here. If I see you outside this room, you’ll die, do you understand?” Of course I had no intention of harming them, but they both looked ready to faint. They wouldn’t be a problem.
Throwing open the door, we stepped over the still unconscious guard. All the way down the hallway she twisted and tried to jerk her arm free from my grasp. I pushed her up against the wall and put my sword very near her throat.
“Listen to me! I haven’t the time for this! Now you walk quickly, or I swear I will run you through!”
“It will be a pleasure watching you hang,” she spat.
“If hanging means spending less time with you, then I happily choose the rope,” I said. “Now move!”
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